Mckyliee Young is grateful to be alive after she sustained major injuries from a sledding accident in December 2022.
"I broke almost 40 bones, I broke 21 out of 44 ribs, I had a fracture in my back, I cracked my head open, and then there was probably the biggest or long-lasting was the nerve roots being ripped out of my spinal cord, so my right hand doesn't actually fully work," Mckyliee said.
"I thought I was going to lose her, so looking back at it now I'm just filled with gratitude," said Mckyliee's mom, Brittney Young.
Over a year later, there are still details Mckyliee doesn't remember from the night of Dec. 16, 2022, but she remembers the hill she was sledding on being extremely icy.
"I started to go down and I remember flipping backwards, and I remember thinking I was going really fast and then I actually don't remember anything after that, but I had hit one pole, then it ricocheted me into another one," Mckyliee said.
Over the weekend, an 18-year-old in Emery County died in a sledding accident.
A study from the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital found over 200,000 patients were treated in emergency departments for sledding-related injuries between 2008 and 2017. Nearly 17% of those were patients 19 and younger — like Mckyliee was when her accident happened.
Dr. Richard Ferguson, the president and founder of Black Physicians of Utah, says severe injuries can occur when sledding. He recommends using a sled, not a tube, wearing a helmet, and also going sledding during the day or in a well-lit area.
"Try to make sure that when you're going down a bottom of the hill, it doesn't end in a parking lot, it doesn't end in a pond, it doesn't end in a road," Dr. Ferguson said.
Dr. Ferguson also says to always go down feet first, and if you find yourself going too fast while sledding... roll off.
"Many times, people don't want to lose their sled, but you'd much rather lose your sled than lose your life," Dr. Ferguson said.
Mckyliee still does some physical therapy, but she's back at work, newly engaged and enjoying the little things in life.
"Every time I'm in my car and the music is really good and the windows are down, I'm like, 'This is good,' and you're just really grateful for it," Mckyliee said.
She also thinks about the importance of sledding and tubing safety.
"It's easy to look back and feel extremely grateful looking around and seeing the life I was able to build, but I think the biggest problem is people don't take sledding as seriously as skiing or snowboarding," Mckyliee said.
